Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Dying with the Paranormal at Heart by Tj O'Connor

Dying is not for the faint of heart. Neither is being a dead
detective—a Ghost Gumshoe. In fact,
it’s downright unusual. Bizarre. Confusing. Often, just… weird.

Huh?

Oliver “Tuck” Tucker is a dead detective—and often, a
detective for the dead. In my first published series from Midnight Ink, Tuck is
killed and returns to solve his own murder. What he doesn’t understand at
first, is that his murder had to happen. It was ordained. There were victims
waiting for him who needed him to solve their crimes, too. So, as the Ghost
Gumshoe—a moniker I’m not entirely thrilled about (and neither is Tuck)—Tuck
and his history professor wife, Angel, and his former partner Bear Braddock,
solve murders. Oh, and Hercule helps, too. He’s Tuck’s dog—a black Lab with a
nose for spirits and bad guys.

You see, Tuck has a gift. He can work with the living for the
dead. For those wronged spirits—those murdered whose killers never faced
justice—Tuck has become the detective for the dead. And, for his cases, there
is no statute of limitations—in this lifetime or before.

With each of Tuck’s cases, my stories offer three important
elements. First, there is the traditional murder that begins the case—Tuck’s
murder in Dying to Know; a mysterious
philanthropist in Dying for the Past;
and in the upcoming Dying to Tell,
the murder of a reclusive banker. There are historical subplots involving
murders in years past—often decades past. In Dying to Know, Tuck chases a killer with connections to a Civil War
gravesite and missing teenage girls from fifty years past. In Dying for the Past, Tuck searches for a
1939 gangster’s journal with the keys to crime families and spy rings in
Washington DC. And, in Dying to Tell,
there’s a World War II Egyptian treasure trove and German spies everywhere. And,
finally, the current murder and the historical subplot all collide at the end
to twist into a larger plot that connects the two. I don’t want to give away
the endings so I won’t go into those details!

And how, might you ask, does Tuck and his partners solve
murders from the distant past—Civil War graves? 1930’s gangsters? World War II
spies? Easy. It’s the paranormal twist I add to each novel.

You see, being a dead detective is not offering up a ghost
story. No. Tuck’s stories are traditional murder mysteries with a paranormal
twist. Tuck uses some interesting skills in his living-challenged world to
reach in and out of history to find clues and chase his killers.

For Tuck, being back among the living and not really one of
them is a challenge. Not everyone can see or hear him. Those who can came by
this connection very hard. It took an emotional connection—and sometimes a
perilous one. And it’s the emotional side of Tuck’s existence that connects him
to the dead. It’s their pain and their demand for justice that connects with
Tuck and moves the stories forward.

Tuck learns more and more about his abilities with each
book. At first, he’s just coming to grips with his new existence. He must learn
to connect with people—whether they realize he’s doing it or not. Then he must
learn what strange skills he has and how to use them to solve the murders. For
instance, early on, Tuck learns that it’s emotions—hate, fear, love—that bind
him to the world. And it’s those emotions that form the nexus between the
historical murder he’s trying to solve and the modern one before him. Often,
the dead seek him out and tell their own stories—not directly, mind you—but
with snippets of their past and clues here and there. Tuck can often touch someone’s
personal object—a ring, a necklace, letters, etc.—and he’s flashed to a place
and time where something meaningful has happened in the case—a murder scene, a
witness’s viewpoint, perhaps a lead on the suspects. Unfortunately for Tuck, the
vignettes are not always clear. And they’re not always meaningful until the
rest of his case plays out. His trips into the past and present taunt him and
pull him through his investigation but never really lead him to the killer. Not
until it’s time.

Then, wham. The historical murder collides with the
present-day and the sparks start flying.

Tuck’s skills are not without error, however. He doesn’t
have the gift of clairvoyance and has no claim to a crystal ball. Instead, it’s
like watching an old movie that’s been damaged by the years. Sometimes the clues are there. Sometimes they’re
missing. Sometimes what he sees is real—and sometimes it leads him down the
wrong path. But always they have meaning. He just isn’t sure he likes it!

And Tuck has some help along the way, too. In each book, we
learn more about Tuck’s family past. He grew up in foster care and never knew
his family. Now, though, he’s learning that being a ghost is hereditary. He
just isn’t sure he likes it. With each story, Tuck’s family lore comes out and
tells the story of how Oliver Tucker and his family have been integrally linked
to crime and adventure for generations. And not always on the right side of the
law, either.

So for Tuck—who really tells the story, not me—it’s his life
and death that make the mysteries. And to connect all the dots from past to
present, he has a few paranormal tricks up his sleeves to bind history—and the
killers—together.

But in the end, it’s the living, not the dead, who are most
dangerous.

Tj O’CONNOR IS THE 2015 GOLD MEDAL WINNER OF
THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS BOOK AWARDS FOR MYSTERIES and the author of Dying to Know and Dying for the Past,
available in books stores and e-books from Midnight Ink. His third paranormal
mystery, DYING TO TELL, will be
released January 2016. He is currently working on a traditional mystery and a
new thriller. Tj is an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism,
investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels.
With his former life as a government agent and years as a consultant, he has
lived and worked around the world in places like Greece, Turkey, Italy,
Germany, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Americas—among others. He was
raised in New York's Hudson Valley and lives with his wife and Lab companions
in Virginia where they raised five children. Dying to Know is also a Foreword
Review’s 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award finalist.